Moldovan government approved simpler procedures for marketing food products for small producers

Chisinau, 26 Sep. /MOLDPRES/- Issuance of permissive acts in the food safety, including for small producers, artisanal producers and tourist guesthouses will be simplified. At the same time, consumer health protection will be ensured by placing safe and quality food products on the market. Government approved a decision on the matter today.

According to the government's communication and protocol department, one of the measures provides for the exclusion of the mandatory sanitary-veterinary authorization of units that provide public food services, agricultural markets that sell products of plant origin, of all trade activities, as well as of small producers of food products of animal origin that trade products on the domestic market.

They will no longer be obliged to have a contract with the veterinarian, which significantly simplifies the process of obtaining the permit, as well as the activity of the economic agent.

Another provision regulated by this draft law is registration in the food safety. The procedure involves the issuance of the food safety registration certificate - a permissive document issued by the National Food Safety Agency, which certifies the activities of production, processing and storage, import and export of food products of non-animal origin, activities in the field of public food and in the field of trade with food that corresponds to the regulations.

The government decided to simplify the registration procedure for food producers in small quantities, including artisanal/traditional ones, establishing hygiene requirements based on good production practices and good hygiene practices, reducing the frequency of sampling adapted to the nature and size of the enterprise, provided that food safety is not compromised. 

The approved project has facilities, in particular, for small producers in the food field, trade and catering establishments that do not process food, without prejudice to food safety norms.

They will no longer be required to implement the entire HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) system, which is expensive and requires major investment, but will instead implement good hygiene practice guidelines that do not affect food safety.

The present project comes with clearer regulations in the case of non-compliant food products. It clearly establishes the obligations of operators, as well as the conditions for withdrawing non-compliant products from the market, ensuring a high level of protection of consumer interests.

Photo: Government